


Brave

by InkSplotchedStars



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Actually I feel like JinJin and Eunwoo switch between being mom and dad, But for the sake of this story Eunwoo is mom, Eunwoo and JinJin are cute fluffy parents ok, They're basically a family, and Sanha is basically their youngest son, and even though MJ doesn't want to admit it he's the oldest son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9227579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkSplotchedStars/pseuds/InkSplotchedStars
Summary: Yoon Sanha was sixteen years old. He had been alive for sixteen years.There are a whole lot of things you learn in sixteen years.Bravery is not one of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote way back in the summer that I finally decided I wanted to share. I'm actually only about a week older than Sanha, so to me he feels like a brother. My "almost twin." This is my first time posting an Astro fic, so please be nice to it. :)

_"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."  
\- Eleanor Roosevelt. _

Yoon Sanha was sixteen years old. He had been alive for sixteen years. 

There are a whole lot of things you learn in sixteen years. 

Bravery is not one of them. 

He had plenty of confidence, but that was different than bravery. Confidence was found in what he knew. Sanha knew he was at least a decent singer. He also knew that he was cute (or at least, he knew his second-mom Eunwoo thought he was cute, and since Eunwoo was probably the most beautiful person he'd ever known...) 

Bravery was something found in the unknown. And Sanha was not confident enough to be brave. 

But sixteen years had also taught him right and wrong, and how to be a person that he could respect whenever he looked in the mirror. Sixteen years had taught him how to love the people and things around him. 

Sanha liked to think that his sixteen years has made him into a good person. 

So, sometimes, when Sanha saw something he knows is wrong, he couldn't help but wonder about his sixteen years and how different he could've been. 

Could have been meaner. Could have been a quitter. Could have been the person to step up when he saw something wrong. 

Instead, he was the person who bowed his head and rushed on. 

That was fine. That was safe. In his mind, only the exceptionally brave would do otherwise. 

After sixteen years, that was what he'd learned. 

~

"Sanha! Where are you going?" Eunwoo poked his head into the entryway of the dorm to peek at the maknae. 

"Just the park." Sanha grinned. "Don't worry. I already told JinJin-hyung that I was going and around what time I'll be back."

Eunwoo nodded. "Alright then. Stay safe. Have fun!" 

Sanha laughed. "I know! I'll be home soon! Love you, Mom!"

And then he was racing out the door before Eunwoo could scold him. 

He took his time walking to the nearby park, letting himself stretch his (still growing!) legs. It was something he did often. He'd found that walking and stretching his legs helped with the piercing growing pains that would wake him up in the middle of the night. 

There was also something really relaxing about the park itself. It was usually quiet when he went in the midmorning. It reminded him of being a kid, when the whole world seemed like a giant playground. 

Today it was as quiet as always. Sanha sat down in a park bench and decided to people-watch the streets around him. It was somewhat of a hobby. He liked giving the strangers around him names and stories. It made the world seem a little smaller, a little more friendly. 

One man suddenly attracted his attention. The man seemed... Off, somehow. He was ill-kept and twitchy. In his hands was a thin hemp rope bag eventually went to circle around the neck of a thin, ragged dog. 

Normally, Sanha was careful not to judge anyone before knowing them, but this man made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

As the man came closer, Sanha did his best to avoid eye contact and act as though he hadn't been watching. Suddenly, just as the man was passing by, the dog stopped. Slowly, the big black nose stooped to sniff at Sanha's shoes. A pair of big, mournful eyes met his own. 

"Yah!"

The sudden outburst made both boy and dog flinch. 

"Stupid mutt." The scary man muttered and kicked the dog at Sanha's feet before pulling it away. 

As soon. As the man was out of sight, Sanha jumped up and raced home. 

"Hey, how was th-"

Sanha shook his head and ran into his shared room before Eunwoo could finish. From there, he flopped face first into the pillows. 

A light knock sounded above his head. 

"Sanha? Hey baby, what's wrong? What happened?" Eunwoo's concern rand through the room. 

Face still smothered in pillows, Sanha weakly shook his head. 

"Did someone say something to you?"

Shake. 

"Do you want to have something to eat and tell me about it?"

Shake. 

"You came back late. Can you please at least eat something?"

Another shake. 

Eunwoo sighed and moved to sit on the neighboring bunk. He carefully reached over and rubbed the maknae's back in large, slow circles. Then sighed softly, frustrated that he couldn't help the young boy. 

Soon enough, Sanha's breathing slowed, signaling that he'd drifted off to sleep. Eunwoo stayed put, nibbling on his bottom lip while lost in his own thoughts. 

The feeling of the bed dip with the added weight of a second person and strong hands massaging his tense shoulders caused him to look up. 

"So did he tell you what's wrong?" JinJin looked at his youngest member with the same concern as Eunwoo. 

"No. And he won't eat either."

"Don't stress yourself out. He'll tell us when he's ready." Eunwoo looked up at the third speaker. 

"How do you know, hyung?"

MJ sighed. "Because he's a sixteen year old boy. And because to him and the other two, you're the closest thing they have to a mom when they all live separated from their biological family."

Eunwoo frowned. "We're family. How am I like their mom?"

"Didn't say we weren't family. We are. We are a very real family. Just not a biological one. And I don't know. You're just... Mom."

"I am not."

MJ snorted. "Oh please. I'd call you my mom too if I wasn't your hyung."

JinJin chucked lightly when Eunwoo was unable to think of a clever response. He stood up, pulling Eunwoo up with him. Gently, he herded the two vocalists out of the room. "Whenever he decides to tell us, we'll be here for him. But for now, let him sleep. 

~

Sanha shot up in the middle of the night. As soon as he did, a bright pain burst from behind his eyes, causing him to yelp and fall back on the bed. 

This caused JinJin and MJ to bolt up and caused Rocky to yell and attack the empty air in front of him (one of the first things that the boys had learned upon moving in together was to never startle Rocky awake unless they wanted to be punched in the throat). 

"Wa' wrong!?" JinJin looked over at the maknae with bleary eyes. 

"Nothing! I hit my head on the bunk, sorry!" Sanha apologized through water eyes. 

JinJin let out a relieved breath. "Oh. You alright? Wh-"

"I heard screaming!!" A panicked Eunwoo ran into the room, followed closely by a half-asleep Bin. "What happened? Did someone break in? Is someone hurt? Should I call an ambulance? Oh god please don't die!"

"Eunwoo!" JinJin had to shout to get the younger to hear him over his rambling. 

"What?"

"Everyone is ok. Sanha just hit his head and spooked us."

"Sanha?" Eunwoo crawled over JinJin so that he could sit next to the maknae. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Sanha said quietly. "I'm really sorry for waking everybody up."

Eunwoo gave him a sideways glance. "Why were you awake?"

Sanha bit his lip. "Bad dream."

Slowly and gently, Eunwoo pulled the maknae into a tight hug. "What happened?"

Something caught in Sanha's throat. He blinked, trying to ignore it. "H-hyung..."

Immediately, there was a large flurry of movement. In the blink of an eye, JinJin had moved over on his bed (both to be closer to Sanha and as not to be squished), Eunwoo had moved both himself and Sanha so that the maknae was sitting on his lap, and MJ, Bin, and Rocky had all squished themselves onto the bottom bunks. 

They didn't say anything at first. Just stayed there, soaking in the comfort of having each other. The older five also knew it wasn't their place to say anything at all. 

Finally, Sanha took a deep breath. "Today, I saw something. And... It was something I knew was wrong and I know I should've done something, but I was scared and I didn't do anything and-"

He stopped abruptly, remembering the dark, sad, accusing eyes in his dreams. "I'm a bad person for that."

Eunwoo's arms tightened around him. "No you are not. You were scared and didn't know what to do. It's not your fault, baby."

Sanha shook his head. "But I should've done something. I should've been brave, like Rocky or Binnie."

"I'm not brave." Rocky said softly. "I'm scared too. All the time. It's just that when I need to be brace for someone else, they come before my fear."

"I'm not really that brave either." Bin added. "Generally, I'm just able to put on a brave front."

Sanha blinked at them incredulously. "But-"

"No one is completely fearless." Eunwoo murmured into his ear. "Just like no one is completely flawless. Bravery isn't a characteristic of a person, but of a person's actions."

Sanha frowned. "I don't get it."

MJ reached over and ruffled Sanha's hair. "That's ok. You will someday."

Sanha nodded slowly. "Thanks, hyung."

"Sleepy again?" Eunwoo murmured, which the others took as a queue to go to their own separate beds. "Do you want me to trade spots with JinJin for the night?"

"Yeah." Sanha said, causing his blond hyung to roll out of bed and plod over to the other room. 

Eunwoo waited for Sanha to get off his lap before turning out the lights and moving to the neighboring bunk. Once the older vocalist was settled, the maknae stretched out his hand. 

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight." Eunwoo held onto his hand long after they had both fallen asleep. 

~

"Sanha? Are you going out?" Eunwoo looked at the maknae. 

"Yeah. I'm going back to the park." Sanha had decided to go the same time as he had the day before. "I already told JinJin."

Eunwoo bit his lip. "Well... Ok. But come straight home if anything happens!"

"I will!" Sanha promised, and raced out the door before Eunwoo could change his mind. 

After hesitating a moment, Eunwoo slipped on a pair of shoes and was about to go out the door when a pair of arms encircled him from behind. 

"Where are you going?" JinJin nestled his chin on Eunwoo's neck. 

"Oh... You know, to get some snacks."

"Liar." JinJin stared him in the eyes. "He'll be fine."

Eunwoo sighed. "I know. I just... He's my baby..."

"And he's growing up. Don't worry Mama Bear, he needs to do this." JinJin placed a light kiss on Eunwoo's cheek and led him out of the entry way. 

Meanwhile, Sanha had reached his bench. While he was half-hoping the scary man wouldn't show up, the other half didn't know what he was hoping for. 

Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the man walking by him. But when he felt a soft lick on his fingers, Sanha looked into the big eyes of a skinny dog. 

"Yah!" The man shouted has he had on the day before. 

"You really don't have to do that." Sanha interjected in a trembling voice. 

"Hah?! You try'n ta tell me how to treat my bi-"

"No. I'm just saying how you /shouldn't/ treat her." Sanha heard himself say. He wasn't sure where it came swim, and normally he would never be so disrespectful. But something about this man rubbed him the wrong way. 

"What did you say, pipsqueak?" The man's face turned an incredible shade of red. 

"What did you say?" Sanha asked before standing up to tower over the man. 

It was somewhat funny, but from a good 4 inches above the man, Sanha could see that there wasn't really any reason he should have been scared in the first place. 

The man cursed and glared hatefully at Sanha. "Fine. If you're so concerned, take her!" 

He threw the dog's rope at Sanha's feet and stomped off. 

After staring at and being stared at by the dog, Sanha picked up his phone and called the first person he could think of. 

"Sanha?"

"Hey hyung, I-" 

"OHMYGOSH are you ok? I've been so worried! Are you at the park? Stay there! I'll be there in five!"

I was more like three for Eunwoo to show up, and then five more for JinJin, who'd been dragged out by the vocalist. 

While Sanha explained what had happened, the three of them made their way home. Once there, Eunwoo called his manager while the other boys fawned over the dog and fed her. 

When the manager got there, he drove the boys and the dog to a vet clinic. Once thet the vet took a small device and ran it between the dog's shoulders, smiling when it let out a long beep. 

"Alright boys. You've done well. She is a bit dehydrated and skinny. But this," she shook the device "is a scanner for microchips. Which this dog has. The chip has her owner's information on it. And, coincidentally, I happen to know her owner. One of our older clients, whose dog was stolen out of her yard about two weeks ago."

Sanha felt his eyes widen a bit.

"She'll be glad to know her dog is safe. Thank you. You were very kind and extremely brave."

A blush made its way onto Sanha's cheeks be lingered there until he was home. 

Before going to sleep, Eunwoo came and sat beside him on the bed. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"Good." Sanha admitted. "I'm really glad that the dog is ok."

"I'm glad you're ok. You could've really been hurt. That was dangerous."

"I was scared." Sanha's voice trembled. "I didn't know what would happen, or what I should do, or even what I could do. But I really wanted to help the dog. Because it's like she was asking me for help.

"Is that what you meant by actions being brave, but not necessarily people? Because even though the vet called me brave, I still don't think I am."

Instead of answering Sanha, Eunwoo leaned over and kissed Sanha's forehead. "Get some sleep, ok? No more nightmares tonight."

Sanha laughed. "Ok! Goodnight!"

Eunwoo stood up (after crawling over an already sleeping JinJin) and flicked off the lights. 

But before he could leave-

"Love you, Mom."

"Love you too, my brave maknae."


End file.
